Inside The Bills

He’s been an AFC Defensive Player of the Month. He’s been named to the Pro Bowl. On Friday, Micah Hyde was named 2nd Team All-Pro. The Associated Press revealed their All-Pro Team Friday and while didn’t make first team, he was voted a second team safety along with Seattle’s Earl Thomas.

“It’s an honor,” said Hyde. “It’s humbling. I feel like all these individual awards we’ve had, whether it’s Poyer’s accomplishments or Tre’s accomplishments or mine, it’s an honor, but I think we’d all say that we’d trade those in to get these wins in the playoffs. It’s a blessing, but we’re looking forward to Sunday and the Jaguars.

Hyde tied for the team lead with Poyer with five interceptions. The two safeties who were named First-Team All-Pro were Minnesota’s Harrison Smith and Tennessee’s Kevin Byard.

Cincinnati QB Andy Dalton’s comeback efforts in the last minute victory over Baltimore to help punch Buffalo’s ticket to the playoffs for the first time in 17 seasons has earned him a lot of admiration from the Bills and their fan base.

“Andy Dalton, you heard it here first, I love you man,” said Micah Hyde in the jubilant postgame locker room. “I love you.”

Hyde wasn’t alone. Perhaps the most appreciative Bills player for Dalton’s heroic efforts late in the game was his former college teammate at TCU, Jerry Hughes.

“Oh, he’s getting Edible Arrangements. If he wants some Budweiser, he’s getting that,” said Hughes. “Whatever he wants, I’m going to be his Secret Santa for the rest of this week.”

Merry Christmas and happy holidays Bills fans! Two games to go and still playing meaningful football. Don’t know if everyone expected that. Here are your questions on Twitter @ChrisBrownBills and email at AskChris@bills.nfl.net.

Besides a Bills win, what is the one thing we should be hoping for to help bills get into playoffs? I know there’s a bunch of scenarios but u get one choice.

David Ayotte
@Dhayotte75David

CB: Well if you’re going to pin me down like that I’d go with a Ravens loss to the Colts on Saturday. That not only gives Baltimore a seventh loss overall, but a key loss in the common games tiebreaker (should it come to that) with the Bills.

A Tennessee loss this week wouldn’t carry quite the same weight because they’re playing an NFC opponent (Rams). A Kansas City loss to Miami doesn’t carry as much importance for Buffalo either. And if the Bills win this week as you propose, it doesn’t matter what the Chargers do, so that’s my answer.

Who gets the most snaps covering Gronk this week? White? Hyde? Milano?

Parasauralophus
@lophus89

CB: I’m anticipating a mixed bag of coverage assignments for Gronkowski. I don’t think there’s any question that he is the main weapon Buffalo has to stop. I believe the primary players who will be assigned to him will be Hyde and Milano, but much like they did in the first meeting, they could sprinkle some coverages in with White on him.

CB: I think Brown has had a solid season. I never believed that the problems on defense last year with illegal substitutions and guys wondering what the play call was were Brown’s fault. This year’s execution on defense is validation of that belief as I see it. Coaching was largely to blame for the defensive struggles last season.

Brown is a solid middle linebacker, who can anticipate and diagnose offensive plays and will not make mistakes. Will he ever be a dominant, take-over-a-game type backer? Probably not, but he’s a reliable performer that you can win with.

CB: I think a safe bet is about 60 percent of the snaps on offense. That’s where he’s been each of the last two weeks. Even in the Colts game where he aggravated his knee again due to poor footing, he played 41 snaps (61%) and last week against Miami he played 37 snaps (59%).

Regarding your second question, I’ve never been a fan of Pop Tarts, but I can tell the winning flavor in my household is Brown Sugar Cinnamon.

Would you trade the 2 first round picks PLUS next year’s first to the browns for the first overall pick this year?

Darek
@drock252

CB: That’s a lot of draft capital to surrender. I’d be more willing to part with the two firsts and a second this year rather than three firsts. This of course is under the assumption that I’m convinced that the top QB on the board is as sure fire a franchise caliber QB as there is, not only in this year’s class, but next year’s as well. If I’m convinced I pull the trigger, even if I’ve got to throw in an extra fourth round pick or something.

Bills S Micah Hyde has had a solid season so far, perhaps the most consistent of any defensive player on Buffalo’s roster. Thus far, it’s earned him the second-most fan votes among strong safeties for the Pro Bowl.

Hyde has a total of 40,321 fan votes, leaving him second to only Seattle’s Kam Chancellor (58,899). Buffalo’s safety has been among the league leaders in interceptions all season with five.

Fan voting for the 2018 Pro Bowl will continue online and on web-enabled mobile phones at www.NFL.com/probowlvote until Thurs, December 14 so keep voting for Hyde and any other Bills player you believe is worthy.

Fans may also vote for who they want to see on the 2018 Pro Bowl roster via Twitter through a Direct Message (DM) Voting Experience, which has never been done for an All-Star game before. Fans may participate via entry cards tweeted from all 32 team accounts or by directly visiting the @NFL profile page at Twitter.com/NFL. The entry cards will initiate a private “Direct Message” and enable fans to select a position group or search for a player or team to begin the voting process.

During the final week of 2018 Pro Bowl voting – December 7-14 – fans will be able to vote directly on Twitter. To cast such a vote, fans should tweet the first and last name of the player, or the player’s official Twitter handle, along with the hashtag: #ProBowlVote. This method is in addition to the online ballot at NFL.com/ProBowlVote and the DM Voting Experience, which will both be available throughout the voting period.

Buffalo lost a pair of starters to injury in Sunday’s loss at Los Angeles. WR Kelvin Benjamin and S Micah Hyde both left the game with knee injuries and did not return. Head coach Sean McDermott would only confirm that both sustained knee injuries, but losing Benjamin early set the pass game back.

Benjamin was lost early in the first quarter when it appeared his right knee was hyperextended on a low hit after he made a 20-yard reception. QB Tyrod Taylor revealed that the loss was especially tough because with Jordan Matthews inactive with a knee injury, Benjamin was going to be featured in the passing attack.

“That was definitely tough. He was a big part of our game plan on offense,” said Taylor. I haven’t heard how bad the injury is, but prayers up for him. Losing a guy like that in a game where he’s definitely going to be big for the game plan is definitely tough. More importantly I hope that he’s better and it’s nothing.”

“That doesn’t help. Honestly it doesn’t help,” admitted McDermott. “All part of the thing getting away from us. At the same time it’s not just about one guy. I’m not here to make excuses. We’ve got to continue to move forward in all areas.”

When a team finishes a game plus-2 in the takeaway category the percentages are high that they win the game. Buffalo was plus-2 on Sunday in Cincinnati, but it did not translate into a win for the Bills. Micah Hyde respects the percentages, but tries not to pay attention to them knowing they guarantee nothing.

“As far as you stat lovers go, 70 percent of the time when you’re plus-two in the turnover differential in a road game you win,” he said. “But this was that 30 percent today. That’s why I don’t pay attention to the stats. It doesn’t matter. We had more opportunities to make plays and we just didn’t execute.”

CB Shareece Wright reiterated the stance that many of Buffalo’s defenders made after the loss at Carolina. Not only do they need to get takeaways, they have to turn those takeaways into touchdowns themselves.

“We’ve got to score when we get those turnovers,” he said. “That’s what we talk about. We’ve been getting those turnovers and getting the ball out. But we’ve got to take it to the next level and make touchdowns and make points ourselves.”

The Bills secondary could be pretty shorthanded on Sunday if some nicked up players are unable to play against the Bengals.

Cornerbacks EJ Gaines and Shareece Wright are both questionable for Sunday’s game along with safety Micah Hyde.

Head coach Sean McDermott expressed confidence that Hyde had come through the week well, but he was limited in practice on Thursday and Friday. Wright was also limited on Friday. Gaines however, did not practice at all and appears to be the biggest question mark for Sunday after sustaining a groin injury in last week’s game.

With only four cornerbacks on the roster the Bills will likely have to add at least one cornerback to the roster for insurance.

Meanwhile OT Cordy Glenn is questionable too in his return from foot and ankle problems. He missed each of the last two games, but was back practicing this week. Friday was the first time he practiced on a full scale basis in two weeks. Rookie Dion Dawkins is expected to make his third straight start at left tackle.

Bills S Micah Hyde participated in warm-ups at Wednesday’s practice, but didn’t do anything else and was listed as a non-participant. TE Charles Clay was excused Wednesday for a death in his family. Lorenzo Alexander and Kyle Williams got veteran rest days.

There were several players who were limited in practice including CB EJ Gaines, DE Shaq Lawson and OT Cordy Glenn, who returned to practice after missing all of last week.

Do you think that the signing of Micah Hyde rules out a Safety in the first round of this year’s draft?

Chris Devaney
@cdevaney

CB: While that would seem logical I don’t know that you can make that conclusion knowing the draft approach of the Bills under GM Doug Whaley. They typically go with the best player on the board having seen them operate the last few years in the draft room. So I don’t think it precludes them from taking a safety in round one if the value is right.

That being said, if they have grades on two players who are really close and one is a safety and the other is a corner or receiver then they’d likely go with the greater positional need.2 – @ChrisBrownBills with the departure of Lynn and Roman why do the #Bills still continue to throw free agent $$ at the FB position?

Ryan Coyle
@rcoyle76

CB: I’m going to let coach McDermott handle this one since he answered it directly at his press conference Thursday evening.

“Fullback is a big part of this offense, and let’s say this: it’s not limited to playing the fullback position,” said McDermott. “There’s versatility within that position, and what Mike brings to the table – as you mentioned, Mike Tolbert. I had the chance to be around Mike for a number of years in Carolina and I know what he brings to the table in terms of leadership, intangibles again, and what happens in that locker room on Monday through Saturday.

“So that’s a big part of it, and then Mike’s versatility on the field with the ability to play fullback, line up at fullback and then also transition to the halfback position and carry the football, and he’s done that extremely well. I had a front-row seat to observe what Mike’s skill set is, both on and off the field, and that was key for us. You’re talking about a guy that’s been to a Pro Bowl, and that’s really no different to [Patrick] DiMarco, in this case.”

3 – @ChrisBrownBills do you see the #bills signing more big name free agents? If so, at what position?

Dale Griswold
@dale_griswold

CB: I don’t necessarily expect big household type names. Their cap situation is getting a bit tight. But I do see them trying to fill a few more positional holes on the roster. It wouldn’t surprise me if receiver or offensive tackle were on the list after incurring some losses at receiver and some uncertainty at tackle (Mills a free agent, Henderson-health).

4 – @ChrisBrownBills How do you think the Bills are going to adress the WR position? They lost talent there the past two offseasons and it hasn’t been replaced.

Ben
@bufbillsthought

CB: As briefly mentioned above I expect the Bills to address the receiver position in some form in free agency, likely with a player they can sign to a fiscally responsible contract (one that doesn’t cripple their cap situation). And I would anticipate them trying to grab another in the draft.

The numbers situation there demands some attention with two free agent losses already (Woods, Goodwin).

5 – @ChrisBrownBills Is Groy a realistic option for Right Tackle? #bills

Bill Carr
@billcarr_10

CB: Donald Jones and I discussed this very topic when I was on the John Murphy Show Thursday. I think we first need to see what additions are made if any at the offensive tackle position in free agency or the draft before we can gauge just what kind of option he would be on the edge.

From a skill standpoint I think he certainly has the size (6-5, 320) and ability to play on the edge. He’s lined up there at times in a pinch. Sometimes it was as an overload tackle in run formations. We all know he can play guard or center. Whether Groy can play right tackle full time for 16 games is a question really only OL coach Juan Castillo and the offensive staff can answer knowing this offense is going to change.

I think Groy really came a long way as a player last season and he impressed me in his last seven games at center. But I think we need to let the dust settle in free agency and see what the Bills acquire before we pencil him in for edge duty.